Who will have the better career...Alonso or Beckham?

[fearofpopvol1]

I know...it's early to make such proclamations. But for fun, since the Reds did have the option of both and were rumored prior to be picking Gordon Beckham...do you think Alonso or Beckham will turn out to be more valuable?

It should be noted that Alonso started at A+ while Beckham started at AA. Alonso is now at AA while Beckham is now at AAA. It's also interesting to note that Beckham has been moved to 3B (since he was originally drafted as a SS).

Alonso: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...pbp&pid=475174

Beckham: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...pbp&pid=493596

[dougdirt]

Alonso. He has much better plate discipline and more power. Beckham won't play SS in the majors, so his positional value over Alonso isn't much anymore.

[nmculbreth]

I'd be willing to venture that Alonso ends up putting up better numbers than Beckham but Beckham ends up being the more valuable player.

As much as I love Alonso's bat, realistically speaking he is limited to playing 1B or DH, whereas Beckham could end up playing anywhere in the infield. If Beckham can stay at SS, his bat should be above average at a critical position. Obviously he becomes a bit less valuable if he has to move to 2B or 3B but even then he still profiles as above average to average. In order for Alonso to be considered an above average player he's going to have to OPS north of .850 and that's a pretty tall order.

[cincy09]

Alonso for sure. His bat easily will play at first base. Beckham's true value was at short, but as predicted, he will not end up there.

[JaxRed]

Probably Alonso..... but the guy I thought/think they should have taken at 1b is Smoak

[Superdude]

I think a better question is Alonso or Smoak

[princeton]

I'd be willing to venture that Alonso ends up putting up better numbers than Beckham but Beckham ends up being the more valuable player.

especially for the Reds, who already had a young lefty 1st baseman

it's interesting that Chris Buckley, who drafted a need leadoff CFer and a huge need catcher, talked about not drafting for need the year after he finally overlooked the need pick (Beckham) for the glut pick (Alonso when Reds had Dunn and Votto already). if there was one year when going for the need made sense...

[dougdirt]

Smoak is currently being owned in AA by left handers. A scout I talked to said that he believes Smoak has a hard time picking up the ball against more advanced lefties. I think it will be interesting to see how Alonso does against them.

[dougdirt]

Assumptions on your part that anyone of those guys were drafted based on 'need'.

[Bumstead]

I think Alonso vs Smoak will be a lot more interesting than Alonso vs Beckham. Beckham is not going to play SS, so picking him based on 'need' is irrelevant. Smoak was hitting really well in AA until he strained his Oblique. Should be interesting to see how both players adjust against the lefties.

Bum

[Mario-Rijo]

Smoak is currently being owned in AA by left handers. A scout I talked to said that he believes Smoak has a hard time picking up the ball against more advanced lefties. I think it will be interesting to see how Alonso does against them.

Smoak is a switch hitter isn't he?

[dougdirt]

Smoak is a switch hitter isn't he?

Yes he is.

[Mario-Rijo]

Yes he is.

And having trouble picking up LHP's? That's unusual.

[dougdirt]

And having trouble picking up LHP's? That's unusual.

Might be a dominant eye kind of thing? Not sure, but I was talking to a guy about it two days ago actually and asked if he was concerned about how Smoak had hit lefties and his response was that he just doesn't seem to be picking up the ball at all against them.

[osuceltic]

I'm holding off on the Alonso hype until he hits lefties. In my opinion, that's still a huge question mark.

And the better question might be will the return we get for Alonso (and subsequent major league outcome) be better than any of the three (Alonso, Smoak, Beckham). Because I still think Alonso is trade bait. I don't see Votto moving off first.